The Faith and Order Commission’s convergence text “The Church: Towards a Common Vision” continues to be discussed by churches on a journey toward revealing the unity of the church and how it is inextricably bound on a pilgrimage of justice and peace.

As part of this worldwide ongoing dialogue, ecumenical delegates from three departments of France — Ain, Savoie and Haute Savoie — met on 17 March with Dr Ani Ghazaryan Drissi, a member of the Secretariat of the Faith and Order Commission, in La Roche-sur-Foron. Together, they had a presentation and debate on the document.

The French delegates will prepare a response to the document by December 2016.

“It is essential to have official answers to ‘The Church: Towards a Common Vision’ not only from churches, but also from ecumenical groups such as this,” said Ghazaryan Drissi. “The first objective of the text is the renewal of ecclesial life.”

In the long term, Ghazaryan Drissi added, as ecumenical groups and churches receive the convergence text, they will go beyond theological agreement by living the essence of the text, in the same way that churches received, in 1982, “Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry” by living in its vision.

“The Church: Towards a Common Vision” is the second convergence document presented by Faith and Order Commission since 1982. Produced by theologians from a wide range of Christian traditions and cultures, “The Church: towards a Common Vision” addresses the church’s mission, its unity, and its existence in the Trinitarian life of God. The document also addresses growth in communion – in apostolic faith, sacramental life, and ministry – as churches are called to live in and for the world.

Following the publication of the text in 2013, the WCC has been promoting the text with a goal of inspiring a significant number of responses, ultimately leading the churches to discover more fundamental common ground.

The reception process for “The Church: Towards a Common Vision” ends in December 2016, at which time responses from the churches will be prepared for study and analysis by the Faith and Order Commission in 2016-2017.